Ligand Enters Into Commercial License and Supply Agreement with Amgen
for Rights to Use Captisol in the Formulation of AMG 330

July 17, 2017 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND) today
announced that it has entered into a commercial license and supply
agreement with Amgen, granting rights to use Ligand’s Captisol
technology in the formulation of AMG 330. Captisol is a patent
protected, chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to
optimize the solubility and stability of drugs. AMG 330 is an anti-CD33
x anti-CD3 (BiTE®) bispecific antibody construct. It is being
investigated as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia by Amgen.

This license agreement replaces the prior research agreement which
allowed Amgen to evaluate AMG 330 with Captisol in preclinical and early
clinical studies. Under this new commercial license agreement, Amgen
receives exclusive worldwide rights to combine Captisol with AMG 330 for
use in humans for a wide variety of therapeutic indications. In addition
to an upfront payment, Ligand is entitled to potential milestone
payments, royalties and revenue from future sales of AMG 330 formulated
using Captisol.

“This agreement expands our license relationship with Amgen on AMG 330,”
said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer of Ligand Pharmaceuticals.
“Ligand’s portfolio of fully-funded shots on goal continues to grow and
contains a large number of Captisol-enabled drugs targeted to a number
of serious diseases with unmet medical needs.”

About AMG 330

AMG 330 is an anti-CD33 x anti-CD3 (BiTE®) bispecific
antibody construct. It is being investigated as a treatment for acute
myeloid leukemia by Amgen.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or acquiring
technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover and develop
medicines. Our business model creates value for stockholders by
providing a diversified portfolio of biotech and pharmaceutical product
revenue streams that are supported by an efficient and low corporate
cost structure. Our goal is to offer investors an opportunity to
participate in the promise of the biotech industry in a profitable,
diversified and lower-risk business than a typical biotech company. Our
business model is based on doing what we do best: drug discovery,
early-stage drug development, product reformulation and partnering. We
partner with other pharmaceutical companies to leverage what they do
best (late-stage development, regulatory management and
commercialization) to ultimately generate our revenue. Ligand’s Captisol®
platform technology is a patent-protected, chemically modified
cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the solubility and
stability of drugs. OmniAb® is a patent-protected transgenic
animal platform used in the discovery of fully human mono-and bispecific
therapeutic antibodies. Ligand has established multiple alliances,
licenses and other business relationships with the world's leading
pharmaceutical companies including Novartis, Amgen, Merck, Pfizer,
Celgene, Gilead, Janssen, Baxter International and Eli Lilly.

Follow Ligand on Twitter @Ligand_LGND.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements by Ligand that
involve risks and uncertainties and reflect Ligand's judgment as of the
date of this release. These include statements regarding Amgen’s planned
development of AMG 330 formulated using Captisol including the target
indications. Actual events or results may differ from our expectations.
The failure to meet expectations with respect to any of the foregoing
matters may reduce Ligand's stock price. Additional information
concerning these and other important risk factors affecting Ligand can
be found in Ligand's prior press releases available at www.ligand.com
as well as in Ligand's public periodic filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, available at www.sec.gov.
Ligand disclaims any intent or obligation to update these
forward-looking statements beyond the date of this press release, except
as required by law. This caution is made under the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.